After we already reviewed the actual flagship of the X90 series, the Vivo X90 Pro+ , which is only available in China or as an import, we will take a closer look at the European top model. The Vivo X90 Pro also relies on a camera system with Zeiss branding and Sony's large IMX989 image sensor in a 1-inch format. The Vivo X90 Pro's features are also impressive. The 6. 78-inch, 120 Hz Samsung E6 AMOLED panel has a peak brightness of 1,300 nits, and the fast MediaTek Dimensity 9200 chipset, which is supported by 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. The Vivo X90 Pro offers, like the Pro+ model , a kind of leather texture and a huge camera module on the back - the Chinese manufacturer calls this Golden Ratio Skyline design. Apart from that, the looks of both X90 smartphones are very similar and the value is also worth emphasizing. Analogous to the predecessor, the X90 Pro comes exclusively in the black color on the local market. A gray variant is also available as an import device. Like the X80 Pro, the X90 Pro is both dust- and water-resistant according to IP68 standard. With 90. 8 percent, the upper-class phone also has a very efficient ratio of the screen to the total surface on the front. Speaking of the display, the manufacturer does not specify which protective glass has been installed in the X90 Pro. In terms of equipment, the X90 Pro features a dual speaker system, Bluetooth 5. 3, fast UFS 4. 0 storage, and an NFC chip for contactless payment. In addition, Vivo relies on a USB 3. 2 port (Gen. 1), which enables high data transfers and wired image output via HDMI or DisplayPort interfaces. In our copy test including a connected M2. SSD hard drive (Samsung 980 Pro), the USB port's transfer rate is 212 MB/s, which is clearly below the theoretical peak level. The Vivo X90 Pro comes with Google Android 13 and the in-house Funtouch OS 13 installed. If you are interested in importing the X90 Pro, you should consider that Vivo does not use the Funtouch interface in China, but the Chinese equivalent Origin OS. Funtouch OS 13 has security patches from January 2023 at the time of the test. How long the Vivo smartphone will enjoy OS upgrades and security updates has not been officially communicated - the X80 Pro had updates for three years. The transfer rates in the home network are high with the Vivo phone since the WLAN module communicates with our reference router Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 in the 2. 4 and 5 GHz range as well as via the 6 GHz frequency band. However, the low reception rates in both the 5- and 6-GHz ranges are noticeable. Access to the LTE network including many supported 4G frequencies is guaranteed, and switching to the fast 5G standard is also possible . We check the tracking accuracy with a practical test on a bicycle. During our short trip, we recorded the route with a Garmin Venu 2 for comparison purposes. From time to time, the determined curve profiles deviate from the actual route, but the deviations in the detailed view of the GPS recording can still be rated as very low overall. The dual-SIM smartphone supports VoLTE, and calls are also allowed via the home WLAN (WiFi calling). In contrast to the predecessor Vivo flagship now supports an eSIM. The voice quality of the X90 Pro is inconspicuous. Voices are reproduced cleanly and our interlocutor also characterized them as clear. The 32 MP front-facing camera enables decent selfies, but the relatively dark pictures of the portrait mode are conspicuous. The centerpiece of the camera group on the back with ZEISS branding is, as with the X90 Pro+ , the large 1-inch Sony sensor, which delivers really good pictures during the day as well as at night. The photos sometimes look too brightened, but have a good basic sharpness - sometimes the autofocus does not always fit (see rabbit motifs). The photos tend to be a bit softer, which is not as good as the over-sharpened photo of the Apple iPhone 14 Pro more natural compared to the over-sharpened photo of the iPhone 14 Pro. The Vivo phone cannot completely convince in terms of color reproduction; green tones are displayed a bit too brightly. However, users who prefer natural colors can activate the Zeiss mode. In contrast to the predecessor the X90 Pro has to do without a high-resolution ultra-wide-angle camera. The photos look a bit noisy even in good light conditions and lack details. In return, the Vivo phone has quite good zoom qualities, although it does not have a periscope camera and only a 2x lossless zoom. However, the X90 Pro retains many details up to a five-fold magnification. The dedicated Vivo V2 image processor and in-house software optimizations ensure solid image quality in this respect. The Vivo phone comes with a modular 120-watt power supply, a USB cable, and a protective case. A protective film is also installed ex-factory. The Warranty is 24 months after the purchase date. A real feature of the predecessor X80 Pro is the huge 3D ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, which we also saw in the X90 Pro+ . However, the X90 Pro only has an optical fingerprint sensor, so the area is much smaller, only one finger can be scanned, and the recognition rate cannot keep up with the class leader of the predecessor. It is a pity that Vivo has skimped here. However, the X90 Pro still features biometric authentication via 2D facial recognition using the front-facing camera. At first glance, not much has changed in the display. Like the predecessor, the OLED panel of the X90 Pro measures 6. 78 inches diagonally and has a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz. An adaptive adjustment of the frequency is still not possible, but an automatic switching between 60 Hz and 120 Hz is available. A big difference is seen in the pixel density. While the Vivo X80 Pro is equipped with a QHD+ resolution, the AMOLED display of the X90 Pro only works with Full HD+. The Vivo smartphone uses PWM with a very low frequency of 60 Hz to control the luminance, which is typical for OLEDs, but the fluctuations are small. The maximum luminance of over 1000 cd/m² in the peak that we measured is very good, and the realistic APL18 test (Average Picture Level) also results in a satisfactory maximum brightness of 1225 cd/m² for this price range. A Xiaomi 13 is considerably brighter with 1,765 cd/m². Our display color analysis is performed with the help of a photospectrometer and the Calman software. The deviations in the color (0. 9) and grayscale (1. 9) representation are very low in the ZEISS profile and the color temperature of the panel is almost optimally calibrated. The high coverage of the color spaces is also worth mentioning; even the DCI-P3 is covered almost completely. Outdoors, the X90 Pro makes a very good impression thanks to the high brightness in automatic mode. Even in midsummer sunlight, the display content should still be sufficiently visible. However, those who prefer to adjust the brightness manually will have to be content with 525 cd/m² and partly annoying reflections. The viewing angles of the OLED panel are very good and the brightness drop is only noticeable from an extremely flat angle. The MediaTek Dimensity 9200 performs well in GFXBench's graphics tests. However, even the onscreen rates are often lower than in the Pro+ model which has to cope with the significantly higher resolution. The browser benchmarks and the BaseMark OS II browser test are also conspicuously low. The graphics performance of the Immortalis G715 offers enough graphics performance for demanding games like PUBG mobile even at the highest details for smooth playback at a constant 40 fps. The shooter is played constantly at about 60 FPS with the HD graphics setting, the new 90-fps mode is not available due to a frame lock on Vivo's part - we use GameBench's app to determine our frame rates . The full 120 Hz of the OLED panel is generally not supported in our test games. We also measured 60 fps in Armajet, although the arena shooter theoretically allows 144 fps. The open-world action RPG Genshin Impact is even only rendered at 30 fps with the X90 Pro. The surface temperatures are very low in our measurements. There is hardly any temperature development even under load. However, the X90 Pro shows a moderate performance loss of 20 to 25 percent in the 3DMark stress tests. The stereo speakers reach a high maximum volume of over 92 dB(A) in our test. The sound output is characterized by tones from medium frequencies that could have been a bit more linear. However, a slight bass note is also recognizable. Alternatively, headphones can be connected via the USB-C port or wirelessly via Bluetooth. When it comes to fast charging, the Vivo smartphone offers wired 120 watts and wireless 50 watts. We cannot verify how long a complete charging process takes since we were provided with a UK version for testing. Interestingly, the battery of the X90 Pro is operated at a high voltage of 7. 78 volts, resulting in an equivalent capacity of 4,870 mAh (3. 89V). The Vivo X90 Pro reveals an increased power consumption in idle mode in our measurements. The X90 Pro lasted a good 15 hours in our WLAN test with an adjusted display brightness of 150 cd/m2. This is a good rate, which is only surpassed by the Xiaomi 13 in our comparison. Without the official pricing for Europe, a conclusive assessment of the X90 Pro is difficult. If the Chinese manufacturer's flagship phone in Europe matches the X80 Pro's RRP of 1299 Euros, we see a few reasons to buy the predecessor rather than the X90 Pro - especially since a Xiaomi 13 that is better in many areas is much cheaper. Whether the X90 Pro can hold its own as a flagship for Europe against a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra or Xiaomi 13 Pro is highly doubtful. Overall, the X90 Pro is a really good smartphone, but the technical deteriorations compared with the predecessor make it a bit of a relegation. Why the successor of the X80 Pro has to accept a downgrade in the ultra-wide-angle camera and zoom lenses, the fingerprint sensor, and the display resolution is incomprehensible. Especially in view of the fact that the X90 Pro is the manufacturer's European flagship and already has to accept compromises in terms of the SoC compared with the Pro+ model. If you really want the best of the best from Vivo, you will have to import the actual high-end smartphone X90 Pro+ . Besides the Xiaomi 13 , we also see the Google Pixel 7 Pro as a suitable and cheaper alternative to the Vivo X90 Pro. Vivo has announced the international launch of the Vivo X90 Pro, but no concrete details about the price and availability are known at the moment. However, the predecessor had a slightly lower MSRP in China, so we assume that it will be available for less than 1,300 Euros in this country as well. The X90 Pro can already be purchased via import, for example at Trading Shenzhen, starting at around 780 Euros . .